Diana Boggia: Development in a child occurs quickly

Thursday

Mar 17, 2011 at 12:01 AMMar 17, 2011 at 4:18 PM

Your baby can see objects from 8 to 15 inches in front of him and can focus briefly on moving objects as far as 3 feet away. He prefers black and white or high-contrast patterns, as opposed to pastels.

Diana Boggia

Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of columns presenting an overview of child development. A specific age group will be targeted each week, ranging from newborn to 5 years. Nothing replaces contacting your pediatrician if you have any questions or concerns, but the following may help you to identify and nurture specific developmental milestones.

Your baby can see objects from 8 to 15 inches in front of him and can focus briefly on moving objects as far as 3 feet away. He prefers black and white or high-contrast patterns, as opposed to pastels.

At around 3 months old, your baby will be kicking with strength, will be placing fists in his mouth and can hold an object for a short time as he watches his hand movements and waves his hands wildly. Arm strength increases, and by about 5 months, he may push up with his arms from a tummy position. Approaching 6 months, your baby may be sitting (with or without hand support), rolling both ways (from front to back and back to front), transferring objects from one hand to the other, and reaching with one hand for objects. By the age of 6 months, your baby will have developed full color vision, and will have the ability to track moving objects.

Language development

Dr. T. Barry Brazelton did a study with a newborn, only minutes old, to determine the baby’s ability to connect and communicate.

He held the newborn between himself and its mom, in competition for the baby’s attention, as they both spoke at the same time to the baby, in a quiet voice, repeating the same words over and over, “What a beautiful little baby you are.” The baby turned his head toward his mom immediately, as he recognized and was comforted by her voice, which he had come to know during the past nine months.

When the study was done again, with the doctor and the dad competing, the baby chose his father, whose voice he had also become familiar with, while in utero.

Studies also show that from early on, when you pay close attention, you will be able to distinguish between your baby’s cries of hunger, overstimulation, discomfort or need for sleep. Watch your baby when he yawns. Is he tired or is he overstimulated and trying to detach? Crying is your baby’s language, so listen closely as he tries to communicate with you.

At 3 months old, his crying will diminish and be replaced with pleasurable sounds, including laughing, giggling and continuous cooing. By 4 months, he will “talk back” with gurgling and cooing. Communicate through touch, as your baby processes soft, gentle stroking as a form of love and caring. By 5 months, he may blow raspberries and attempt to repeat sounds, and by 6 months, will make identifying sounds to express his discomfort or pleasure. By the end of 6 months, your baby will begin to respond to “no” and can distinguish your emotions by your tone of voice.

Putting together sounds

He will begin to babble chains of consonants. It is interesting to note that all sounds made by all infants are the same, regardless of the language spoken in the home.

These are critical months for you to expose your baby to language, through quiet talking, songs and stories with pictures to identify objects. Introduce your version of animal noises with pictures to identify them, as well as simple baby sign language, and soon he will be communicating with you when you ask “what does the bunny say?” He’ll scrunch up his nose and sniff with delight.

Diana Boggia, M.Ed., is a parenting educator in Stark County, Ohio. Send your child-rearing questions to Family Matters@cantonrep.com or The Repository, c/o Family Matters, 500 Market Ave. S, Canton, OH 44702. Find additional parenting resources, along with links to all of her columns, at Diana Boggia’s website, www.yourperfectchild.com.